The present invention relates to videoconference communications.
A videoconference allows at least two users to communicate with each other, not only by voice but also visually. Each user can in fact obtain an image of the other user(s) involved in the communication.
To this end, each user can have a screen which reproduces the image of the other user(s) involved in the communication, as well as an image sensor more or less close to the screen and capable of picking up his own image for viewing by the other user(s).
A problem with videoconferencing lies in the fact that users see the image of the other user(s) on their screen, rather than that of the image sensor. The resulting impression is that the various users are not making eye contact. This effect is sometimes called the “two-faced” effect. This prevents high-quality communication between participants.
Several solutions have been proposed to resolve this problem.
According to a first solution, screens comprising a hole in which the image sensor is placed have been envisaged. However, such a hole creates a break in the image displayed.
According to a second solution, a semi-reflective pane is placed in front of the screen of a local user at a certain angle, in order to reflect the image of the local user toward an image sensor, while allowing the remote user image displayed on the screen to pass through.
A third solution, described in particular in FR 2,858,431, uses a fast-switching transflective screen. A screen of this type alternates at a high frequency between an opaque state and a transparent state. Suitably positioned, the image sensor can then pick up the image of a local user when the screen is in its transparent state. Moreover, when the screen is in its transparent state, it can reproduce for the local user an image of the remote user with whom he is in communication.
Despite the improvement in the quality of communication contributed by these different solutions of the prior art, nevertheless they require complex and costly systems, the use of which may be suitable for companies but is not appropriate in terms of the public in general.
A videoconference system is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,671 which makes it possible to correct the parallax effect resulting from the angular separation between the camera and the image viewed on the screen. This system comprises in particular a light source projected onto a local user. The image showing the reflection of the light source projected onto the local user is subsequently analysed, then corrected, before being transmitted to the remote user. The drawback of such a system lies in the fact that it requires a complex process of image analysis and processing.
A purpose of the present invention is to make it possible to limit at least some of the above-mentioned drawbacks.